Helen Dillon

Helen Dillon has been at the forefront of international horticulture for many years.

The Dillon Garden, which she maintains at her Dublin home, has been on the receiving end of more awards than you could shake a garden rake at.

Helen's lifelong devotion to all things garden began when, along with her brothers, she was given her own patch to maintain in the family garden.

Her route to gardening fame has been a circuitous one, via the University of Surrey where she briefly studied Russian and through a career as an antique dealer in the UK.

She married Irish antiques expert Val Dillon and they've lived in Dublin for the last 28 years during which time the Dillon Garden has become one of the biggest horticultural 'draws' in the city.

Helen has written many books and appeared in numerous television series for RTE and other broadcasters and regularly travels to the USA where she is much in demand as a lecturer on gardening.

Helen is proud of the fact that she cooks 'proper food' every single day. She describes her food as 'old fashioned' - indeed one of her favourite recipes is one which calls for the use of "sixpence worth of cream".

Helen loves to entertain and she is looking forward to providing some culinary entertainment for the diner in The Restaurant. For more about Helen visit: www.dillongarden.com